


The Magic Nesting Doll

by onelonelynote



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, The Magic Nesting Doll
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, M/M, Magic, The Magic Nesting Doll - Freeform, fairytale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-09-16 21:58:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9291287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onelonelynote/pseuds/onelonelynote
Summary: John goes on a journey to thaw the prince of ice and save him from the evil wizard, MoriartyBased on the children's book The Magic Nesting Doll by Jacqueline K. Ogburn





	

When John was very young, both his parents had died in a horrible accident and he had been sent to live with Grandmother Hudson. He had lived with her now for so long, he couldn’t remember a life without her. She had been both a mother and a father to him countless times but now it seemed like that it was coming to an end.

Grandmother Hudson was getting older and she had caught pneumonia. Despite his medical training, nothing John did seemed to help. One night she called John to her side. 

“John,” she said. “My time on this earth is almost up. There’s nothing else you could have possibly done, so don’t beat yourself up over it. You have been like a son to me, you know. And while I have very little to offer you before you go out in the world, I have something small to give you.”

With that, she pulled out a nesting doll and handed it to John. It was a small wooden doll that had a woman painted on the outside (that looked very similar to Grandmother Hudson…). He thought it was rather childish, to be honest, but he knew his grandmother meant well, so he would cherish it.

“This doll is more than what meets the eye. It is magical. Whenever you need help, open up the doll and help will come. It will only work 3 times before the magic is gone. Keep the doll and remember me.”

With that, Grandmother Hudson gave John a loving peck on the cheek and closed her eyes. By the morning, she had passed. John packed up his few items and the nesting doll and left to make his own way in the world beyond the little hut he had called home for so many years.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John had been trekking out in the world for a few years now and he had seen many new things but nothing held his interest long enough to keep him there so he had continued on. He had finally reached a new kingdom by nightfall and found a small inn to stay in for the rest of the night. 

After he checked in, he asked the innkeeper, Mike, to wake him in the morning, if it’s no trouble. But Mike surprised him by saying,

“It’s no use, mate. You’d be sleeping for the rest of eternity. Morning in this kingdom never comes. The evil wizard, Moriarty, put the prince here under a spell. It turned the prince into a man of living ice. It also affected the rest of the kingdom. While the prince is still under that spell, the winter never thaws, the moon never shows his face, and the sun never rises.”

John was intrigued. “How do you break the spell?” he asked.

“Well, rumor says that you’d have to reverse those three things and still have some magic left.”

“Can I see him? Where is the prince?”

“Now, you’d only go there if you had a death wish cause the evil wizard Moriarty still keeps a close eye on the prince, lest he wakes up. Moriarty rules until the prince thaws. But if you want to risk it, be my guest. The prince’s castle is due east.”

John had never been more curious in his entire life.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John had walked to the castle in no time at all. He saw that despite the many windows in the castle, there was only one with light shining from it. Unfortunately for John, the window was on the third story of the castle.

“No matter”, he thought. “There’s a sturdy tree that grows right by it. I’ll simply climb the tree and peer in the window.” He nimbly climbed the tree and soon found himself face to face with possibly the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. 

The prince truly was a man of living ice. You might’ve thought that he was just a statue carved of ice if you failed to notice the soft wisps of breath floating above his lips. But that wasn’t what held John’s gaze. The man himself was beautiful. He had a curly mop of hair that came to about his brow. His skin was so smooth, and John was convinced that, had he not been made of ice, his skin would be deathly pale. The man had the highest cheekbones John had ever seen on a man but his tall slender frame made them seem right at home. John imagined that, if the man were awake, would be as graceful as a dancer. John chuckled to himself. The prince’s face held a look of frustration, as if he was trying to break his own curse through sheer mind power. John knew right then he would do anything for this man. He strengthened his resolve to break the curse on the prince, though he had no idea how. He wondered how someone could affect him so strongly so quickly.

Unbeknownst to John, while he was perched in the tree gazing at the prince, the evil wizard Moriarty had seen him and now chose to make an entrance.

If the prince was a man of ice, Moriarty was a vision of fire. His cheeks were rosy, and his hair seems to flicker in flames behind him. His rich red robes only served to reinforce that image of fire.

“Ah. What do we have here?”  
“Are you Moriarty?”  
“I am indeed. May I ask why you are perched on a tree outside of my castle?”  
“Your castle? This is the prince’s castle!”  
“I see. You are one of those. Blah blah I’m going to save the prince and all that. Can’t have that, can we?”  
He then gave a smile that chilled John to the bone.  
“Guards! Take this rebel rouser down to the dungeons and let him rot there.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John could generally hold his own in a fight, but the next thing he knew, he was locked in a cell with no viable escape. He cursed himself for allowing himself to be seen in the first place. He paced back and forth in the small cell. Oh Grandmother, I wish I had your guidance right now. Then he suddenly remembered the small nesting doll. If he ever needed help, this most certainly would be the time.

He pulled the small doll out of his pocket and took a deep breath. He slowly nudged open the doll and inside he found another smaller doll, this time with a picture of a bear on it. 

The image had barely registered in his mind when a spirit form of the bear appeared in the cell. 

“Hello, John. I’m assuming you’re in dire need of some sort of help, since you have summoned me.”  
John just gaped at the bear.  
“Oh, how rude of me. I should have introduced myself. My name is Mycroft.”  
The bear held out his paw and John just shook it wordlessly. The bear narrowed his eyes, as if that was even possible.  
“Now now, if you can’t tell me what I can do to help you, I will be utterly useless. So please enlighten me to the problem at hand.”  
John finally found his voice. “I, uh, I’ve been locked up here and would rather like to, um, not be. Um, locked up, that is.”  
“Is that it? Simple really, though I can’t imagine why. Seems cozy enough to me, almost like my own cave…”  
“Well there is one other thing, but I’m not sure you can help me, I’m rather confused on how to fix it, really…”  
The bear just gave him a look that plainly said, “Try me.”  
‘Um, well, there’s this curse I’m trying to break. But in order to do that, the winter must thaw, the moon must show his face, and the sun must rise.”  
“Well I cannot help you with the latter problems, but who better to thaw the winter than a bear? We shall see how much good that will do. Hop on my back and I will help you escape. Where would you like to go?”  
John had an answer immediately. “To the prince.”  
The bear sighed, “You know, caring is not an advantage.”

But John was not to be swayed. The bear saw this and leaned down so John could climb on his back. Soon they were bounding through the window to the outdoors where the bear let out a huge roar and immediately John could feel the atmosphere change.

“Take me to the prince, Mycroft”  
“As you wish, John.”

When they reached the prince’s bedside, the prince somehow seemed less icy than before, though John couldn’t be sure. John almost completely forgot about the bear until he heard him say,

“Unfortunately, my magic was not enough to break the curse completely. But that is all I can do to help you and now I must go. Keep the doll and remember me.”

With that, Mycroft, the bear, vanished.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John had only been there about a minute before Moriarty suddenly appeared.

His appearance had changed as slightly as the prince’s had. The tips of his hair seemed to have a slightly blue tint to it and he moved a little more stiffly than before.

“You again? How on earth did you manage to find you’re way out of…? No matter. Guards! Blindfold him and take him deep into the forest. Have fun finding your way back, boy!”

Again, it seemed like fighting the guards was a lost cause because before he knew it, he was in the middle of the forest with no idea how to get out. At least it wasn’t winter anymore. Man, would Mycroft’s help come in handy right about now…Oh. Right. God, he could be thick sometimes. He started by taking out the first doll with his grandmother painted on the outside. Then he reached for the doll with the bear. “Well, here goes nothing”, John thought. He broke apart the bear, this time to reveal an even smaller doll with the image of a wolf. 

The wolf spirit appeared and John could tell that this spirit was different from the bear immediately.

“Ah, hello mate. Name’s Lestrade, what seems to be the problem?”  
John felt much more comfortable with the wolf than he had with the bear.  
“Well, I’m quite lost here. I was wondering whether you could help me find my way out of this forest.”  
“I can’t see why you’d want to, John, is it? Seems like home to me. Well, to each his own, I suppose.”  
“Wait, there’s something else, as well.”  
The wolf just looked at him expectantly.  
“There’s this curse that I’m trying to break. The bear spirit helped me solve the first part, thawing the winter, but I still need help with the other two parts, making the moon show his face and the sun rise.”  
“Why didn’t you say so? I can’t help you with the sun bit but who else is better to call the moon than a wolf? Hopefully that’ll do the trick. Hop on my back and I will help you find your way out of the forest. Where would you like to go?”  
“To the prince.”  
“Ah, this is what this is all about. The prince is a good man, you know. Hopefully one day he’ll be a great one.”

With that, the wolf knelt down to help John climb onto his back and soon they were running like the wind through the forest. The wolf howled louder than any other wolf John had heard before and soon he saw the moon appear in the sky.

“Take me to the prince, Lestrade.”  
“As you wish, John.”

When they arrived at the bedchamber, the change in the prince was obvious. He still had a blue tint about him, but he seemed more man than ice this time. The wolf pawed John’s side and said,

“Sorry, mate, my magic wasn’t enough to break the curse completely. But that’s all I can do to help you and now I must go. Keep the doll and remember me.”

With that, Lestrade, the wolf, was gone.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This time, John could’ve sworn that Moriarty was waiting for him.

When he stepped out from the shadows, Moriarty had frosted just as much as the prince had thawed. His hair was almost completely blue now, and his face was not as rosy as it once was. His robes even seems to glow a little less and this time he was clearly having a problem with moving towards him at all.

“You’ve been up to some tricks. I don’t appreciate that. I guess I’ll have to make sure you’re in a place where you’ll not be able to pull anymore, huh? Guards! Take him to some remote ledge off a cliff. Hopefully this will teach you a lesson this time!”

John didn’t even try to fight the guards and now he was stuck on a ledge off a cliff with no way off it. This time, with no hesitation, he carefully emptied his pockets of the dolls, first of the grandmother, then of the bear, and then finally of the wolf. He paused, about to open the wolf doll. This was his last doll. There would be no more magic to help him after this. Should he open the last doll now? He looked around. Well, he figured if he didn’t use it now, there would be no other chance to anyway. He took a deep breath as he opened up the wolf to reveal the smallest doll yet. It was a firebird.

“Um hello, John.”  
The firebird spirit seemed much quieter than the last two.  
“Hello there. What’s your name?”  
“Oh, er, sorry, I should’ve said. It’s, um, Molly.”  
“That’s a nice name.”  
John smiled at her and she seemed to warm up a bit.  
“What can I help you with, John?”  
He looked around at his surroundings.  
“Well, I seem to be a bit stuck…”  
“Oh dear me, of course you need help off this cliff! Obviously you don’t see as a perfect nest like I do…”  
“It’s okay, Molly. There is something else as well.”  
She looked at him and waited for him to continue.  
“There’s this curse, you see, and I’ve managed to get help fixing most of it but I still need help with the final part, getting the sun to rise. Can you help with that? It’s perfectly alright if you can’t…”  
But the firebird seemed to light up at this.  
“Oh yes! I can certainly help you with that. Who else is better to help the sun rise than a firebird? Surely that’ll help. Hop on my back and I will help you off this cliff. Where would you like to go?”  
“To the prince”  
“Oh. Yes, I can do that.”  
She looked him up and down.  
“You’ll be good for him, you know. He doesn’t have many friends. Just don’t forget, John, the prince has a heart, even though he himself forgets it at times.”

With that, she helped lift John up on her back with her wing and they were soaring through the air. Soon the air was filled with a beautiful melody that seemed to hum from the firebird’s small body and the sun’s rays peeked over the mountains in the distance.

“Take me to the prince, Molly.”  
“As you wish, John.”

They landed in the prince’s room and John saw that Moriarty was already there, towering over the bed. John immediately took a defensive stance but then realized that it was the wizard that was made of ice this time, while the prince seemed to be normal. But then why wasn’t he awake? The firebird nudged him with her wing.

“My magic was not enough to break the curse completely. Don’t forget what I told you. I’m sorry but that’s all I can do to help and now I must go. Keep the doll and remember me.”

John was sad to see the firebird go, but soon enough, it too had vanished.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What else was there to undo? He had done all the things that bound the curse to the prince. The prince should be awake.

He walked over to the bed and looked at the prince. His skin was as pale as John imagined it would be but it looked paler still next the jet black of his hair. He looked just as frustrated as he did before. It just made John want the prince to wake up more. What was he thinking in his deep slumber? Well, he thought, there’s nothing more to do here. He decided that he would go back out into the world and see if there was anything else that anyone knew about this curse so John could finally lift it, for he had no more magical favors left. 

As he stood up to go, he turned to look at the prince one more time. God, he was beautiful. He reached up to touch his face and it was softer than he expected. “What’s left?”, he wondered. He suddenly remembered what Molly had told him. 

Just don’t forget, John, the prince has a heart, even though he himself forgets it at times.

His heart was still frozen. What could John possibly do to thaw a prince’s heart? And before he even made the conscious decision to do so, he was leaning down to kiss him. As soon as their lips touched, John felt the prince’s eyelashes flutter and John jumped back to see that the prince had woken up. 

John didn’t realize how much he wanted to see the prince’s eyes before they opened before him. They were a pale blue that was almost grey. John was so distracted by them he didn’t notice Moriarty shatter to pieces until one shard nicked his shoulder.

“Ouch!”  
“Who are you?”

The deep baritone voice came from the bed. 

John looked up to see the prince sitting up and talking to him.

“Um, what? Sorry I didn’t quite catch…”  
“I do hate repeating myself. Clearly you’ve been here previously due to your comfort in your surroundings but you’re not someone I’ve met before so obviously you’ve been here after the curse was cast. Your accent is not from this kingdom but isn’t distinctly of any other kingdom either, so you’ve been travelling, but not staying any one place for long. Perhaps you’ve been running from someone, but more likely because you hadn’t found a place to hold your interest for longer than, say, about a month or two. The various types of mud on your boots make that clear. But you’ve been travelling alone, made obvious by the size of your pack, so there was a reason aside from curiosity to why you started travelling in the first place. Trying your worth as a doctor? No, more likely due to the death of someone close of you, maybe a family member. If you were trying out your worth you would be displaying the fact that you’re a doctor with the typical armband or sash. There’s nothing inherently special about this place to you so what made you stay here? Ah, you found out about the curse and then decided it was your duty to break it. Foolish, but I suppose I should be thanking you because you clearly succeeded. But you didn’t do it entirely by yourself, and yet you’re here alone. Clearly you must have had some magic but aren’t magical yourself, so I repeat, who are you?”  
John just gaped.  
“Well? Please make some sort of indication that I was not saved by someone with merely air between their…”  
“That was…amazing.”  
“What.”  
“Absolutely brilliant.”  
“That’s not what people normally say.”  
“What do they normally say?”  
“Piss off.”  
There was a moment of silence.  
“Um, my name’s John. It doesn’t seem fair, though, that you already know my whole life story and I don’t even know your name.”  
“Sherlock. You can call me Sherlock.”  
John smiled. “Sherlock it is.” It seemed to suit the prince.  
Sherlock pulled John down so he was sitting next to him on the bed.  
“So how did you do it, John?”  
John pulled out the nesting doll.  
“When I was young, my parent’s died in an accident and I was sent to live with my Grandmother Hudson…”

Years later, if you were to visit the castle, you would see the nesting dolls sitting on a pillow from the prince’s bed, proudly displayed on the mantle. Right next to the skull, of course.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all, this is my first fic I've ever written so any feedback or (gentle) critique would be much appreciated! Thanks for reading!


End file.
